McCall City Council members spent a workshop session reviewing a draft ordinance to renew the city's streets Local Option Tax (LOT), asking staff to clarify eligible uses, tighten language for the ballot, and align the ordinance with the city’s capital improvements program and local housing priorities.

City staff said the draft keeps the tax term at 10 years while changing the LOT rate from 3% to 4% and clarifies eligible spending to emphasize streets and transportation infrastructure, stormwater and snow-storage measures that protect Payette Lake, and matching funds for grants and public–private projects. “We changed 3% to 4%,” Nathan, city staff, said during the presentation (timecode: 1100.48–1117.22). The draft also ties spending to annual council review of projects through the five-year CIP process.

Council members debated how specific the ordinance should be. Some members urged broader, flexible language so future councils are not constrained; others pressed for clearer examples so voters would understand how LOT funds could be used. The council agreed to remove an interim subsection that had listed many illustrative items (referred to in the packet as “Section C”) and consolidate the key eligible categories into one primary statement that covers streets, public parking, transit facilities, traffic control devices, sidewalks, pathways, bike lanes and related multimodal and streetscape facilities, aligned with city-approved plans.

Erin, the city’s communications lead, emphasized the importance of clear voter-facing materials tied to the ordinance. “The most important piece is a really well stated ordinance and a well stated question,” Erin said while outlining an outreach plan (timecode: 3121.26–3139.31). Staff described a multi-pronged education plan that will include FAQs, web materials, mailers, presentations to civic groups and targeted social media, with the goal of answering the public’s most common objections.

Council members also discussed whether LOT language should explicitly reference local housing priorities and public–private partnerships. Staff said the ordinance can allow LOT funds to support transportation and right-of-way projects that reduce development costs for local housing initiatives — for example, by funding sidewalks or street improvements required for a development — while clarifying that LOT dollars could not be used to pay for appliances or interior elements of housing units. Staff suggested referencing the city’s Local Housing Action Plan (or similar city-approved housing plan) in the ordinance or education materials to make the linkage clear to voters.

On fiscal and legal questions, staff noted the ordinance continues to contemplate matching funds (grants, revenue bonds, joint projects) to extend local funding. The city attorney and staff clarified that an explicit line-item fund for “replacement, repair and maintenance” described in an older draft is not a new separate fund; rather, the streets department’s existing budget serves that function. Bill, the legal adviser, and staff said that the city’s current budgeting practice fulfills the statutory intent behind that language and that retaining the section in the ordinance for transparency is advisable even if the practical accounting remains in the streets department budget.

Council members discussed ballot timing and next steps. Staff proposed returning a final ordinance and ballot package to a regular council meeting in February (the staff target mentioned was February 13, with February 27 as a fallback). Staff will revise the draft language as directed, prepare the ballot title and supporting outreach materials, and submit the package to the county per usual election processes.

The workshop ended with procedural business and a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote.

Notes: This report is based on the council workshop transcript. Direct quotes are attributed only to speakers identified in the official meeting record.